From left:  Mr Des Pearson, Auditor-General of Victoria, Professor Jayne Godfrey, Deputy Dean Research, Honorary Professor Warren McGregor, Professor Kim Langfield-Smith, Head of Department of Accounting and Finance, Associate Professor Keryn Chalmers, Deputy Head Financial Accounting and Auditing. Back; Kevin Stevenson, Partner, Global Capital Markets Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Peter Day, Executive General Manager Finance, Amcor Limited.

Warren McGregor appointed honorary professor in Accounting and Finance

A Business Lecture was held for members of the accounting and finance industry on Tuesday 27 November at the Caulfield Campus to celebrate the appointment of Warren McGregor as Honorary Professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance.

Professor McGregor's lecture was titled, A single set of globally-accepted high-quality accounting standards – reality or fantasy?

"When the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) was established at the beginning of the new millennium it was charged with the task of establishing a single set of global accounting standards that could be used in all of the world's capital markets - a lofty objective that many supported but few thought could become a reality, perhaps ever and certainly not in the short to medium term," said Professor McGregor.

Professor McGregor discussed the critical actions that the IASB took in its initial years to establish a foundation for its future success and how China, Canada, Korea, India and Japan were quick in succession to join the IASB.

"The IASB is surprisingly close to achieving its goal, yet there are many challenges that lie ahead", concluded Professor McGregor.

The lecture was very well attended, with about 80 people from industry, the profession, academia and the student body, including the Auditor-General of Victoria, Mr Des Pearson and the Chair of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) Professor David Boymal.

Head of the Department of Accounting and Finance, Professor Kim Langfield-Smith welcomed Professor McGregor and distinguished guests, "It is a great honour to celebrate the appointment of Professor McGregor to the Department of Accounting and Finance. Professor McGregor has been instrumental in the development of standard setting in accounting world-wide and we look forward to collaborating with him at Monash."

Professor Warren McGregor became a member of the International Accounting Standards Board in January 2001. Before joining the Board, he was a founding Director of StevensonMcGregor, a boutique accounting practice specialising in financial reporting and accounting standards. Prior to that, he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Accounting Research Foundation (AARF) for ten years, the body that until 30 June 2000 was responsible for providing technical support to the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) in the development of Australian Accounting Standards. Professor McGregor is a Monash graduate and commenced his career as a lecturer in accounting at Monash University.